An Inside Look at the Jül Smart Mug

Power Practical gave us some insight into their new smart mug, which we talked about earlier this week. We’ll give you the inside scoop on what you can expect from the Jül and what we think could be better. Follow us as we delve a litter deeper than the sales pitch found on Kickstarter.

The Jül Smart Mug is an sleek and elegantly designed mug made to keep your coffee the perfect temperature. The rotating base allows you to set the ideal temperature. Using the powered base, the Jül heats up to temperature and a light indicates whether the coffee is too hot, too cold, or just right.

We really enjoyed the concept of the Jül, but wanted to know more of what to expect from this smart mug. Power Practical was open enough to answer a few of our questions to provide you with an inside look.

Technical Design

There are heated mugs on the market. Conducting a quick Amazon search will result in finding a number of other smart thermoses. Knowing that other mugs were available, our first concern was that this may not be unique enough or convenient enough to sell well.

The Jül is tied to a chorded base. Without the chorded base, it is simply another thermos. Granted, Power Practical ensured us that it is an exceptionally built thermos with double walls and a seal mode for the lid. However, seeing as Power Practical has had experience with battery development, we were a little surprised this thermos does not come with a battery.

We asked the developers about including a battery powered base in the future, which resulted in a very positive reply. “We do have a lot of experience building batteries and we intentionally left out the battery to cut down on costs, keep the size as small as we could and increase product longevity… A battery powered coaster will definitely be included on the follow up survey.”

While the current design is chorded and less portable, future design has potential. We can expect a slightly higher price for the portability. However, I think it is safe to say it will be priced lower than the Ember which runs around $250.

Cosmetics

The Jül was made to be modern and classy in look. With that in mind, the developers left out any temperature indicators to maintain that minimalist look. The only indicators of temperature, in the original design, were the two grooves in the side of the cup for minimum and maximum temperatures.

It is difficult to have a perfect temperature without a reference point. After some feedback from backers, the developers are planning to mold the temperature values on the bottom of the cup. These values will only be for reference, and the actually temperature is determined by the groove position.

Additionally, the Jül only comes in two colors, white and black. Both colors look classy, but some backers like a little extravagance. We asked Power Practical if they planned on producing more colors. They responded, “At this point no, but time will tell.” You can interpret this as, “not unless enough people really, really want it.”

Structure

One of the most frequent questions was, will there be a bigger size? The Jül only holds 12oz. The developers let us know that they “are in the middle of doing testing on large volume Jüls.” So, a larger mug is a real possibility.

However, they are considering whether the USB powered base can handle the extra volume. The likelihood is still a little shaky on the large cup. While the 12oz mug might disappoint some of the heavy coffee consumers, it shouldn’t deter most daily drinkers.

Wrapping It Up

Overall, the Jül is a beautiful mug with lots of potential at a reasonable price. While most smart thermoses have a $100+ pricetag, the Jül is set to retail at $69.99. We would love to see the battery powered version of this mug, but the chorded version still has something to offer. Power Practical has offered to provide us with a test product later in the year. We will provide an in-depth look at the Jül with a full video review. Let us know what you think of this smart mug in the comments below!